First ever Aerospace and Defence Awards off to a 'flying' start

First ever Aerospace and Defence Awards off to a 'flying' start For the first time ever International Aerospace, a bi-monthly magazine providing an incisive insight into the aerospace developments nationally and internationally, organised the International Aerospace Awards 2011. The Awards recognized the people and the companies that have been instrumental in making the Indian Aerospace & Defence Industry soar.

Padma Shri Shri Surinder Mehta, Founder Chairman, Prime Group being awarded by Hon. Minister of State for Defence, Dr. M M Pallam Raju,

The Awards were held at The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru on 8 February 2011 on the sidelines of Aero India 2011 and was attended by the who's who of the aerospace industry. The Chief Guest for the awards Dr. M M Pallam Raju, Hon. Minister of State for Defence, Govt. of India handed over the awards along with Mr. Trilok Desai, Publisher and Managing Director, SA P Media Worldwide (the publishers of International Aerospace magazine).

At the event Desai said, "At International Aerospace we felt it was time to appreciate the efforts and passion of the Indian Aerospace & Defence Industry and hence instituted and organised the International Aerospace Awards 2011. These awards arc the first of its kind in the industry and we promise that they will get bigger and bigger.’’

Honourable Minister Dr. Pallam Raju congratulated International Aerospace for instituting the awards to celebrate the "relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation in the Aerospace & Defence industry.’’ He also said, ‘’I am happy that awards are being conferred for excellence in innovation, indigenous technology and entrepreneurship. ‘’ Describing the Indian aerospace sector as the world's most robust and dynamic, Raju stressed the need to apply knowledge to improve the production processes as a prelude to enhancing the quality of the products.

Dr.Kota Harinaryana, widely recognised as the architect of India 's first fourth generation supersonic Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was conferred the "Lifetime Achievement Award". He described the awards instituted by the International Aerospace as a " veritable force multiplier". He expressed his joy over the Indian media appreciating the technological excellence involved in the design and development of India’s first state of the art indigenous combat aircraft.

The esteemed jury who decided the winners of the International Aerospace Awards were:
Air Chief Marshal (Retd) S. P. Tyagi, Advisor & Consultant
Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, Director, Centre for Air Power Studies
Dr. S.N. Singh, Dean R&D, IIT Delhi
Dr. S. Kamle, Professor and Head, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Kanpur
Dr. Venkat Raj, Former Director HSE Group, BARC Mumbai
Trilok Desai, Publisher and Managing Director, SAP Media Worldwide Ltd.
Abhay Bhargava, Business Director, Petro Tel Inc. (USA)

(L-R) Trilok Desai, Publisher and MD, SAP Media Worldwide Ltd and Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju, Hon. Minister of State for Defence, Govt. of India, with the winners

The invitees and dignitaries at the International Aerospace Awards 2011